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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The Whistle Pig

I love groundhogs.I
know they are part of the rodent family, but I think of the little critters our front field as a sort of pet dog that lives in the
wild.Growing up we always called them
woodchucks.(I googled this and found
that stems from the Algonquian name for the animal, wuchak)

Recently, I also was amused to hear my Dad
calling them “whistle pigs”.He told me that
growing up the boys in his family would whistle in order to get the groundhogs
to stand up in the field and look around.When they are not feeding they will stand alert, watching for
danger….and if alarmed the groundhog will use a high pitched whistle to warn
the others in the colony.Hence the name
whistle pig.Apparently my Dad speaks
their language…. because he whistles and you see three or four little guys pop
up around the field!

The other reason I love groundhogs is the amazing attributes that
God has given them.They are one of the
few true hibernators…. unlike bears they need several hours to wake up while
sleeping in winter.(Whereas if you go
disturb a bear during its winter sleep….it will immediately wake up and make
its displeasure known!)

Plus during hibernation a groundhog will:

They breath once every four minute

Heart beats only 4x a minute….down from 80
beats per min

Their body temp. drops from 99 degrees to 36
degrees

And they stay like that for almost 8months, all without food and water!Most of the year they are nearly dead and
frozen!But every year I watch the furry,
albeit thinner, critters emerge from their burrows and begin munching
away.If that is not the Lord’s hand in
preserving them…..then I don’t know what is!

Psalm 145:15-16

“The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest
them their meat in due season. Thou
openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.”